Large oil reserves discovered in Brazil

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency says large reserves of oil are located off the coast of the northeastern state of Sergipe, representing a new frontier in petroleum development in Latin America’s biggest country.

Agency director Magda Chambriard said Wednesday that numbers on how much oil is in the reserves would not be announced before 2016.

Most of the country’s oil production is concentrated in southeastern Brazil, where over the past several years billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in offshore reserves, mostly in deep, pre-salt fields.

Brazil Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo (left) and Petrobras President Maria das Gracas Silva Forster (2nd-left) celebrate at the end of the auction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six years ago in deep water off Brazil's Atlantic coast, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 21, 2013. China's CNOOC and CNPC, Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total joined Brazilian state operator Petrobras in a joint bid to win Monday's auction to develop the huge Libra oilfield. The four energy giants won 35-year concessions, with Petrobras taking a 40 percent stake. Shell and Total both secured a 20 percent stake, with CNOOC and CNPC taking 10 percent each. less

Brazil Justice Minister Jose Eduardo Cardozo (left) and Petrobras President Maria das Gracas Silva Forster (2nd-left) celebrate at the end of the auction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six ... more

Photo: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP/Getty Images

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View of the auction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six years ago in deep water off Brazil's Atlantic coast in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 21, 2013. China's CNOOC and CNPC, Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total joined Brazilian state operator Petrobras in a joint bid to win Monday's auction to develop the huge Libra oilfield. The four energy giants won 35-year concessions, with Petrobras taking a 40 percent stake. Shell and Total both secured a 20 percent stake, with CNOOC and CNPC taking 10 percent each. less

View of the auction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six years ago in deep water off Brazil's Atlantic coast in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 21, 2013. China's CNOOC and CNPC, Anglo-Dutch ... more

Photo: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP/Getty Images

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Brazil's Mines and Energy Minister Edson Lobao delivers a speech during the auuction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six years ago in deep water off Brazil's Atlantic coast in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on October 21, 2013. China's CNOOC and CNPC, Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total joined Brazilian state operator Petrobras in a joint bid to win Monday's auction to develop the huge Libra oilfield. The four energy giants won 35-year concessions, with Petrobras taking a 40 percent stake. Shell and Total both secured a 20 percent stake, with CNOOC and CNPC taking 10 percent each. less

Brazil's Mines and Energy Minister Edson Lobao delivers a speech during the auuction for developing huge pre-salt oil deposits found six years ago in deep water off Brazil's Atlantic coast in Rio de Janeiro, ... more

Photo: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP/Getty Images

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The Petrobras offshore ship platform FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis is shown on Oct. 28, 2010, the day the first oil sample was taken from the pre-salt layer of Tupi field in Santos Bay off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. less

The Petrobras offshore ship platform FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis is shown on Oct. 28, 2010, the day the first oil sample was taken from the pre-salt layer of Tupi field in Santos Bay off the coast of Rio de ... more

Photo: Felipe Dana / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Ships try to control an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron at the Bacia de Campos, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil on Nov. 13, 2011. Seventeen oil company executives faced criminal charges in March 2012, for the oil leak in the Atlantic, a legal action that prompted debate about whether it could slow Brazil's effort to develop its massive offshore finds. At least 110,000 gallons (416,000 liters) of oil seeped through cracks on the ocean floor near a Chevron Corp. appraisal well off the Rio de Janeiro coast in November 2011. less

Ships try to control an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron at the Bacia de Campos, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil on Nov. 13, 2011. Seventeen oil company executives faced criminal charges in ... more

Photo: Associated Press

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Vessels work to clean up an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron at the Bacia de Campos, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Transocean Ltd. was the drilling contractor for the well. Oil started leaking at the site of the Chevron appraisal well Nov. 7, 2011 about 230 miles off the northeastern coast of Rio de Janeiro state. less

Vessels work to clean up an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron at the Bacia de Campos, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. Transocean Ltd. was the drilling contractor for the well. Oil started ... more

Photo: Rogerio Santana / Associated Press

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Brazil's then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva covers his hands with the first production oil sample from the pre-salt layer of Tupi field as he visits a Petrobras offshore ship platform in Santos Bay, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Oct. 28, 2010. Silva left the helm of a nation transformed from a perennial underachiever into one with economic and political clout. less

Brazil's then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva covers his hands with the first production oil sample from the pre-salt layer of Tupi field as he visits a Petrobras offshore ship platform in Santos Bay, off ... more

Photo: Felipe Dana / AP

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Greenpeace activists use simulated oil to protest an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron Corp, outside Chevron's offices in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday Nov. 18, 2011.

Greenpeace activists use simulated oil to protest an oil spill in an offshore field operated by Chevron Corp, outside Chevron's offices in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday Nov. 18, 2011.

Photo: Silvia Izquierdo / Associated Press

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Petrobras workers walk on platform 51 "Majuro" in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on Aug. 21, 2008. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters, then the biggest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years, had Brazilians saying, "Drill, baby, drill," while environmentalists worried the forward-thinking nation would take a big leap backward to focus on crude. less

Petrobras workers walk on platform 51 "Majuro" in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on Aug. 21, 2008. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters, then the biggest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in 30 ... more

Photo: Ricardo Moraes / AP

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A P-34 Petrobras' platform, left, is seen 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil on Sept. 2, 2008.

A P-34 Petrobras' platform, left, is seen 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil on Sept. 2, 2008.

Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP

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A Petrobras worker removes the first oil extracted under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor onSept. 2, 2008 on the P-34 Petrobras' platform, 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters, then the biggest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years, had Brazilians saying, "Drill, baby, drill," while environmentalists worried the forward-thinking nation will take a big leap backward to focus on crude. less

A Petrobras worker removes the first oil extracted under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor onSept. 2, 2008 on the P-34 Petrobras' platform, 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil. An enormous offshore ... more

Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP

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A Petrobras worker removes the first oil extracted under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor on Sept. 2, 2008 on the P-34 Petrobras' platform, 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil.

A Petrobras worker removes the first oil extracted under a thick layer of salt beneath the ocean floor on Sept. 2, 2008 on the P-34 Petrobras' platform, 75 miles east of Vitoria, Brazil.

Photo: Eraldo Peres / AP

Image 13 of 27

Petrobras workers walk on platform 51 "Majuro" in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on Aug. 21, 2008. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters, then the biggest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in 30 years, had Brazilians saying, "Drill, baby, drill," while environmentalists worried the forward-thinking nation will take a big leap backward to focus on crude. less

Petrobras workers walk on platform 51 "Majuro" in Angra dos Reis, Brazil on Aug. 21, 2008. An enormous offshore field in territorial waters, then the biggest oil discovery in the Western Hemisphere in 30 ... more

Photo: Ricardo Moraes / AP

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Brazil's then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA then-president, Sergio Gabrielli, show their hands covered with oil during a visit to the P-34 offshore platform, 120 kms (75 miles) east of Vitoria in the Atlantic ocean, Brazil, on Sept. 2, 2008. less

Petrobras workers pose in front of the P-52 oil platform during its launching ceremony in June 2007 in Angra dos Reis, 300km south from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil had discovered a new offshore oil field that professed to be the third biggest field in the world. The find, located off the southwest coast, was calculated to hold 33 billion barrels of oil. less

Petrobras workers pose in front of the P-52 oil platform during its launching ceremony in June 2007 in Angra dos Reis, 300km south from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil had discovered a new offshore oil field ... more

Photo: ANTONIO SCORZA / AFP/Getty Images

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Brazil's then-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds samples of biofuel produced from sugar cane bagasse, during a visit to the Petrobras Development and Rersearch Centre in October 2007, in Rio de Janeiro. less

Brazil's then-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds samples of biofuel produced from sugar cane bagasse, during a visit to the Petrobras Development and Rersearch Centre in October 2007, in Rio de ... more

Photo: VANDERLEI ALMEIDA / AFP/Getty Images

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Then-Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (C) congratulates Petrobras technicians and engineers (in orange coveralls) beside then-Petrobras president Sergio Gabrielli (R) and Rio de Janeiro's governor Sergio Cabral, during the launching of the P-52 oil platform in June 2007 in Angra dos Reis, 300km south from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Brazil had discovered a new offshore oil field that professed to be the third biggest field in the world. The find, located off the southwest coast, was calculated to hold 33 billion barrels of oil. less